Michael Jordan has had a long and wildly successful career as a basketball player, businessman, philanthropist, and even a baseball player! His Airness, number 23 himself, has easily become one of the most iconic figures in sports history, but how much do you know about him off the court? Read on to discover the truth behind this Hall of Fame star…
Short Stack
When Michael Jordan first tried out for his high school basketball team, he was told he was too short! Guessing that the coach feels pretty embarrassed now, huh?
Growth Spurt
Sometime after his sophomore year, Michael hit a huge growth spurt. He gained 4 inches and was finally tall enough to get on the team!
Play Ball
Initially, Michael Jordan didn’t have any interest in basketball. He wanted to become a baseball star like his dad. Life had a bit of a different plan for him though…
Average Game
In high school, the now-famous player earned about 25 points per game during his junior and senior years. This easily earned him some college scouts…
McDonalds Man
In his final high school season, he was selected to play for the McDonald’s All-American basketball team. He made several victory shots. Bet he was loving it…
Student-Athlete
Eventually, Michael Jordan decided on the University of North Carolina for school, though he received enticing offers from all over. He played for 3 seasons…
Major Player
At school, Michael Jordan was a cultural geography major, though he didn’t actually finish the career until 2 years after signing on to his first NBA team…
Joining the Team
In 1984, Michael Jordan joined his first NBA team. He played for Chicago Bulls in the third overall pick. Jordan was a vital addition and he gained a lot from the experience…
No Rookie Mistakes
During his first year in the NBA, Jordan earned an average of 28 points per game. He also became the Rookie of the Year and an All-Star. Pretty impressive!
Top 40
The player also once earned 40 points or more in the course of six games, something that takes most players several years to accomplish. Not bad for a freshman player!
Weathering The Storm
Just in case the Bulls ever decided to cut him, Jordan finished his college degree. His back up plan was to become a weatherman. Luckily he didn’t need to put plan B into action!
Lucky Charm
The Chicago Bulls never lost more than three games in a row once Jordan came on board. And if you’re wondering, yes, that includes the playoff games.
Repeating Wins
If you’re curious about how vital Jordan really was to his college team, he helped in over 500 games, of which 126 were playoff games. Sounds pretty important!
Ben Blatt
A man named Ben Blatt crunched the numbers and concluded that the odds of a repeat would be one in 140. Jordan was truly one of a kind.
Fan Favorite
Though this fun fact is certainly up for debate, many consider Michael Jordan to be the best basketball player of all time, or at least among the greats. What do you think?
Keeping Up Appearances
He earned his title through many years of impressive scores and stats. For example, the player was 6-0 in terms of final series appearances. He was one of the best!
Wilt’s Shadow
However, for a long time, Jordan was considered second best to the great baller Wilt Chamberlain. In 1986, Jordan scored lower than Wilt in record season points, having only 3,000.
Wilt Wins
In that same season, Wilt scored 1,000 points more than Jordan almost 20 years prior. Don’t worry though, Jordan definitely beat Wilt out eventually…
Counting Career
The career points per game were where Jordan won out, scoring 30.12 points on average throughout his basketball career. Wilt, by comparison, won 30.07 points.
Magic in the Air
Michael Jordan considers Magic Johnson to be his lifetime idol. He respected him so much, that he tried to implement a part of the player in his own career…
Magic Jordan
Jordan idolized Magic so much that he tried to make “Magic Jordan” his nickname on the court. Thankfully, that wasn’t the one that stuck with Jordan’s fans…
His Airness
Michael Jordan’s nickname ended up being “His Airness” on account of how high he could jump to the hoop. Fits a lot better than Magic Jordan, don’t you think?
A Fan Driven Crazy
Jordan was such a big fan that he even got the player a personalized license plate for his 1976 Grand Prix. That’s what I call fan dedication! He wasn’t just a fan for long though…
Owning Up
The players, Jordan and Johnson, now work together in a different sense. Jordan owns the Hornets while Johnson co-owns the Dodgers. Play ball, ballers!
Best Ever
In 1996, he was listed as one of the best players of all time. A risky move considering he wasn’t even done with his career yet! But were they wrong?
Record Holder
The famous player holds a record that many have tried to beat. He is the only player over 40 to average 20 points a game as well as scoring over 40 points in a game. He really can do it all!
Showing Off
The king of the court also knew how to put on a performance. He was known for being the slam dunk king. He loved to show off, but it caught up to him one day…
A Challenger Approaches
One time a fan asked His Airness to try dunking on someone his own size, namely basketball player John Stockton who stood at 6 foot 1. He accepted and succeeded.
Running on Dunkin
Jordan took on player Melvin Turpin who stood at a staggering 6’11. Not shockingly, Jordan bested the giant. The crowd went crazy!
Making Money
In the 90s, Michael Jordan made about $4 million a season, which was a ton of money at the time. However, his earnings spiked a lot in later years…
Earning a Raise
In 1997, his pay went from $4 million to $30 million. The year after that, he started earning $33 million. Not too bad for His Airness!
Brand Loyalty
As you might already know, Jordan is very loyal to the Nike brand. This is standard for many athletes, but this loyalty got him in trouble on one particular occasion…
Going For Gold
At the 1992 Olympics, Jordan was thankfully chosen to represent the United States. The only problem was that the Olympic team had a Reebok partnership.
Flying the Flag
The way he got around this was covering the Reebok logo on his uniform with the American flag. According to him, you can’t deface anything with the American flag!
Adidas Adventures
You won’t see Michael Jordan sporting Adidas ever. The brand only wanted to sponsor players who were over seven feet tall. Didn’t work with the 6-foot player!
Flu the Coop
During the NBA Finals in 1997, Jordan caught the flu during game five. Nonetheless, he scored 38 points and won the game for the team! That wasn’t all either…
Catching the Flu
Jordan allegedly caught the flu from some bad food delivery. The pizza was possibly not fully safe to eat, as he called in sick just a few hours later.
Ball Boy
At the end of his famous flu game, Jordan gave his winning shoes to the ball boy for the Utah Jazz, Preston Truman. Those shoes are probably worth a fortune now!
Selling Shoes
Preston didn’t disappoint. He sold the shoes at auction several years later for a shocking $104,765. A high price but a great prize!
No Mis-Steaks
Before every game, Michael Jordan eats a 23-ounce New York Strip steak, potatoes, ginger ale, and side salad. Better safe than hungry!
New Numbers
Jordan has worn three numbers over the course of his career. His most famous was 23, but he also wore 45 sometimes to honor his brother, and once wore number 12.
Number 12
Michael Jordan wore the number 12 only once in 1990. An employee of the arena stole the famous 23, so he was forced to sport 12. He scored 49 points that game.
New Jersey
Michael Jordan once almost sported a replica jersey brought by a fan the day his number 23 was stolen. He ended up using number 12, but it was a close call!
Smoke Show
Michael Jordan has been smoking since 1991 due to stress. It has luckily not impacted his performance, but can’t be good for him nonetheless.
Risking It All
Michael Jordan loves to gamble, to the point that he’s called it a problem. “I’ve gotten myself into situations where I would not walk away and I’ve pushed the envelope. Is that compulsive? Yeah, it depends on how you look at it. If you’re willing to jeopardize your livelihood and your family, then yeah,” he told 60 Minutes.
Water You Scared Of?
Michael Jordan has a fear of water due to witnessing a friend drown as a child. Michael also had a scary incident with swimming at a summer camp and has stayed dry ever since.
Need A Lift?
MJ is close with his limo driver, George Koehler, who gave him a ride when he needed one. He didn’t recognize the athlete but started a lifelong friendship for only $25.
Front Gate
His house is huge, and even has his number 23 on the front gate! Inside, there’s a movie theater, basketball court, 11 bedrooms, guardhouse, guest house, pool house, and more. He sold it all in 2017 for $7 million.
Dining Hall of Fame
His dining room table has 32,292 holes in it, each one representing a point he scored in his massively successful career. How can you even eat on it?
Layering Up
Michael Jordan was known to wear his UNC shorts underneath his Chicago Bulls shorts during games. Other players started to do the same. Good luck takes work!
Prime Number
The number 23 has become a favorite for athletes in other sports or teams to pick, as a homage to the great Michael Jordan. Talk about impact!
Like Father, Like Son
Jordan’s first-ever coach was his own dad. The two bonded over the sport and grew very close from playing. Guess he was a pretty good coach!
Tongues Out
When someone needs to focus, sometimes they have a special habit. For Jordan, this was sticking his tongue out. Whatever works, I guess.
Rule Breaker
Jordan was so dedicated to his brand deal with Nike, that he wore his won Air Jordan’s every game, going against uniform. He was fined every game that he wore those red and black shoes!
Air Jordan
The Air Jordan shoes have a “Jumpman” logo on them, which many believed to be the man himself. However, this logo first debuted in 1984.
Stellar Shoes
Michael Jordan makes money both on and off the court. He has earned almost $60 million a year from the popularity of the Air Jordan shoes, making it one of the most popular shoes on the market.
Brand Value
The brand is said to be worth a billion dollars. People save and spend their hard-earned paychecks on these sneakers as soon as a new style drops. After 30 years, the popularity has only grown.
Space Jam
Michael Jordan joined the Space Jam cast as Bugs Bunny’s teammate to save the Loony Toons from the Monstars. The film was a massive hit and is rumored to be getting a sequel!
Commercial Roots
The movie was pitched after Jordan’s 1993 Nike commercial that paired him up with Bugs Bunny during the Super Bowl. The movie would later become the basketball movie that grossed the most ever. Wow!
A New Space Jam
Though he did appear in the hit movie, Space Jam, Jordan was also a cartoon for a show called ProStars. It aired for 2 years and included other athlete superstars like Wayne Gretzky and Bo Jackson.
Voice Acting
The players sadly did not voice their own characters in ProStars. Instead, they answered fan questions in their live counterparts. It aired Saturday mornings on NBC.
Quitting Basketball
He said that he quit basketball when he got tired of the sport and lacked the desire to keep pushing forward. He was also a big baseball player in his youth and wanted to give it another shot.
Sports Illustrated
When Jordan tried his hand as a baseball player for the Chicago White Sox, Sports Illustrated wrote that he “has no more business patrolling the right field in Comiskey Park than Minnie Minoso has to bring the ball upcourt for the Chicago Bulls.” He had a lot to say about that…
Cutting Ties
Since then, Michael Jordan has not spoken with the publication. Guess they really burned that bridge, but the transition was famously bad. He’s definitely better on the court than on the diamond…
Jordan Gives Back
When the twin towers were attacked on 9/11, Michael Jordan wanted to help. He donated his entire salary of the 2001 year to the victims. The first $100,000 went to the children affected by the tragedy.
Lawful Good
Michael Jordan is known for being a nice guy, but he goes the extra mile. Whenever he wins a lawsuit (which is often) he donates the winnings to different charities. So far, he’s done this with 23 organizations.
Chicago’s Children
Most of the charities that he donates to are related to the wellbeing of children in Chicago. This includes educational efforts, health, and safety concerns the kids might face.